Reality Check
by OnceUponMyDaydreams
Summary: In this chaos, he somehow fell for her, so good didn't always win. And if it did, then at what cost? Robin wondered this as he held the limp body in his arms, begging brown eyes to open. Screams filled the air, fire burned, people ran seeking refuge, blood ran like a river on the roads. "Pay attention sis, this is how you take away a happy ending." OutlawQueen endgame. Dark.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

She took her time stirring and waking up; her eyes took a moment to adjust to the darkness after she opened them. She was in her bedroom, and it was probably still the middle of the night, since it was so dark. She was in her bed, in her silk pajamas and under the covers, but something felt wrong.

She suddenly gasped and shot up right. The curse, the town line... Her heart sunk. _Henry_.

Her insides knotted, her heart at her throat and all of a sudden she couldn't even breathe. She felt as if she was chocking.

But she was in her bedroom in Storybrooke. Her eyes darted around. She reached over and turned on her bedside lamp, casting the room in a soft, golden glow, leaving no doubt as to where she was. How was this possible?

Her heart constricted in her chest with a hope she could not help but let in. Had she been dreaming? _Is he here?_ She threw the covers aside and ran out of her bedroom. Had it been a nightmare? She ignored the cold that hit her body and made goose bumps crawl over her, the cold floor not even fazing her as she moved across the hall, frantic.

She opened Henry's door and stopped. She almost cried out in pain, her hand still on the doorknob as her chest felt like it was caving in, like a physical wound, the sliver of hope she had let in ripped from her violently, taking her breath away, and her will. He was gone. Her nose tingled and her eyes burned with tears and she gasped in a shuddering breath, gripping the doorknob to try to keep herself upright. Her heart constricted now for a whole other reason, a white hot pain that threatened to crush her heart from the inside.

Her vision swam with tears. _My little Prince._ She felt hot tears roll down her cheeks. He was gone.

But then why was she here?

The realization came as a whisper in the back of her mind, and she took in a deep breath, suddenly very aware of her surroundings, looking around confused. If this was real and she had sent him over the town line with Emma, then why was she still in her mansion in Storybrooke? She should be in the Enchanted Forest. She somehow managed to take a step back, and closed the door.

She took in a few more deep, shuddering breaths, trying to calm herself down, but she was shaking, her hands were shaking and she didn't know what to do. She tried moving her feet, and thankfully they cooperated, moving back to her room.

_I'm in Storybrooke._ She thought again, her eyes scanning her room for any clues, but she frowned uneasily. _Something's not right_.

As if underlining her thoughts, a huge, deafening crash coming in from her window made her duck where she stood as glass flew everywhere. She had closed her eyes and thrown her arms out in front of her face out of pure instinct, shielding herself from the debris as the loud explosion of glass disoriented her for a moment, but the loud, monstrous shriek that ripped through her ears made her eyes snap open.

She didn't know if she saw what she saw in the dimly lit room but either way threw a fireball at it. Monster with wings or monkey with fangs, crashing in through her window did not mean it came in peace.

But it was fast. It ducked the fireball and spread its large wings, wrecking everything in her room as it charged at her with haunting red eyes and glistening teeth. Her eyes widened as it ducked another fireball and she made for the door. Her heart beat loudly in her ears but its horrifying shriek was even louder now much closer to her and she covered her ears as she landed hard on the floor, having just barely thrown herself out of its reach outside her doorway in the hall, and she took her cue to scramble to her feet as it crashed into the doorframe, too big to fit through easily.

Oh and it looked mad now, it shrieked louder and Regina covered her ears again as she ran down the hall and turned around when she was just in the middle, a safe enough distance now to gather her strength to attack properly. She didn't have to wait long.

Wood and splinter flew everywhere as it angrily made it through the frame by practically tearing it down, shrieking and growling its whole way out. Its red glare pinned on her was all she could see in the black hall.

But it was enough. As soon as it was in the confined walls of the hall, Regina unleashed her magic, fire springing from her fingertips in a stream he couldn't escape from and its shrieks were now of agony as it tried to back up but the space proved too small to move. Now she could see it a bit better, an ape-like beast, with wide wings limited in the walls of the hall, knocking down every picture frame and painting around as it burned and struggled. Regina didn't let up, a mad glee in her eyes and a malicious smirk on her lips. _How dare you_. She thought, taking a step closer and intensifying the flame and heat, feeling her ears ring as it cried and cried loudly trashing about and even tried to move towards her in its last cry, but the momentum of the power rushing out of her threw him further backwards before everything went quiet.

She was panting as she slowly called the flames back, the adrenaline slowly disappearing as her magic settled back inside of her. She had to cover her nose, the smell of burning hair and flesh too overwhelming as she slowly approached the still burning remains of the monster. She tried to make it out a bit better to find any clues as to where it had come from now that it wasn't trying to kill her, but it was just charred meat now.

Before she could try to examine it closer though, another shriek tore through the air, further away, approaching. She jumped back and conjured up more fire, ready, adrenaline rushing through her once again.

But seconds passed and no more monsters crashed in. But she could her them, more now, more shrieks. Getting closer. She chanced a look down at the still burning remains before she made it disappear with a flick of her other hand, fire still crackling in her right as she tried to avoid the space the monster had been burning in while she made her way back into her bedroom.

And she ducked again, by her bed, lowering the flame to try and keep the element of surprise. One of the monsters had just flown by not far from her window, whooshing air into her room. She had seen its grey fur fly past her window, its wings like that of a bat. A flying monkey. She couldn't help but ponder over that for a second. A freaking flying monkey just flew by her window. _What the hell is going on_?

She listened intently to any more noise outside that could help her plan her next course of action, but it was just wings flapping and more shrieks, some close, some far. And then glass shattering again with a crash. But not in her house, too far to be her house. And then another crash, closer, and screams, human screams, and the beasts' shrieks.

That's when she stood back up and ran to her window in a panic, ignoring the glass all over the floor, more glass crashing outside and more screams. She made it to the window ledge, the fire in her hand extinguished and forgotten as she looked outside in utter shock.

They were everywhere, crashing into homes and with horror she saw them take some victims in their talons and fly off with them, or drop them from a high distance, and there was a car alarm, someone had crashed down into a car, and then there was an explosion somewhere in the distance, strong and loud and she took a step back from the widow, stunned, the flames licking the sky before debris fell.

But the screams of the people tore through her mind, her mouth hung open and her eyes watered, anger and despair and grief rising inside of her. They were tearing her town apart. Her son's friends and probably family were dying. She let him go so he could be safe but these people were supposed to survive too, an unspoken promise between her and her prince as she saved the whole town for him. There was a brief flash in her mind of the first time she looked out her window decades ago, to her beautiful town, all hers, miserable people and all. But this was not her doing, not the fire spreading and the people she would no longer hurt so horridly splattering onto the ground in a heap of blood and crushed bones.

She moved her hands to conjure up her magic, her anger fueling it to a huge burning flame. Someone was stepping on her toes. This was her town and though this was not the destruction she dreamed of anymore, if anyone, _she_ would decide how this place and its people went down. She took advantage of two of the monsters' hovering position over the house across from her and to the right, taking them down easily with fire balls, uncaring if it called attention to her location, after all, she was probably the only one who could do something about them right now.

And it didn't take long, the third beast she had hit had just disintegrated in the sky before some of them turned to her and started flying towards her mansion. And then she found herself at a loss on which spell to cast. There were a lot of them. Her hands were raised in front of her, her mouth hung open and fire swam in her vision now and more car alarms and more screams and thuds as bodies hit the hard concrete.

Her phone was ringing on her bedside table.

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><p><strong>Please let me know if you like it and would like me to continue. As implied in the Summary, I'm going to explore the darkness in the OUAT universe, dig deeper into the villains' madness, starting with Zelena wanting to beat her sister in the Evil department. I'm a big fan of OQ so this will also build up to them. Review Please, constructive criticism is also well received.<strong>


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

_He stopped running and his breath caught in his throat when from some steps away he watched as she kneeled before the Queen, pledging allegiance. She bowed her head as she kneeled low and promised to follow her into the dark clouds that would soon surround them. _

_And he couldn't breathe. He felt sick to his stomach. Why? Why this? Why like this? Why now? The guilt ate him up in a way it never had before, and if Regina's expression was anything to go by, she was fighting to keep her composure as well. How had things gotten so screwed up, so bitter and twisted? _

_Roland had followed suit and was kneeling besides her to the Queen, bowing comically low but sneaking up glances at her with that toothy smile of his, dimples deep and lovely. And the Queen tried to smile back and she was struggling and she chanced a glance at him not far to her right, a fleeting glance that conveyed their shared pain and guilt and her nose was red now, she held back tears they both hoped looked to be tears of joy and gratitude to the child and woman before her, and she had cried too many tears today at his expense and the sick pressure on his chest tripled, as if his heart was being squeezed from the inside, and he knew it showed in his face, scrunched up in a grimace and he turned away once she rose back to her feet with Roland, did not want her to see him like this and give them away, so he did not see the small smile shared between the woman and the monarch._

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><p>Even before he opened his eyes, he knew something was wrong.<p>

It wasn't the hard ground underneath him. No, he was used to that. It wasn't the light sweat sticking to his skin. He sometimes woke covered in sweat if he forgot to take off a layer of clothes in his hurry to just sleep. It wasn't the warmth of another body or the soft, long hair in his face being absent. It wasn't rare for her to wake before him and wait for him at breakfast. Or the maddening headache, because it was just like him to wake up before sleeping enough and his body protesting. Although this headache was considerably worse than any he'd had before.

No, it was something else, and as he groaned and fought against sleep's grip, trying to sit up but finding his muscles unusually stiff and sore, his head barely lifting from the ground before it fell back, his eyes too heavy to open yet, all he could focus on was the unusually stale air. It was a heavy air, difficult to breathe in, grim in his nostrils and lungs, and a relief to breathe out. It smelled strange, of nature, yes, but not the usual fresh, pine smell he could breathe in every morning. It smelled wrong. It smelled like death.

His heart started racing in his chest, as if his mind now fully caught up with what his senses were picking up, and he once again forced his eyes to open, surprised to find a cloudy sky, the sun nowhere in sight.

With quite some effort, he was able to bring his hands up to his face, rubbing at it and trying to clear his mind a bit. He had to stay still for a little longer, trying to regain the strength that seemed to be missing from every muscle in his body. He had gone to sleep after a long day of hunting, she had already been under the sheets when he slipped in, his boy had stayed in Josh's tent, insisting on hearing another story from his little friend's father.

Maybe it was the thought of his family, but all the strength he was missing came back full force and he was on his feet in an instant, regretting it almost immediately as his head spun and he almost lost his footing, colorful dots flying in his vision, but his heart was beating wildly in his ears now and he wasn't about to crumble back to the ground, especially when he took in his surroundings, and his family was nowhere in sight.

He was in a small clearing in a forest, a forest he didn't recognize, with air far from fresh as the one he knew well, and with trees not nearly as tall as the ones from his home. Even a bit foggy as he couldn't see the top of the trees, so he couldn't pinpoint the exact time. The sky was grey, gloomy. It was bright, the sky tainted with a white layer, the sun's warm rays interjected by the white clouds, bathing everything in cold, white light. And it was cold, a biting cold.

He looked down, perplexed. What was he wearing? A strange cloth made his pants, and weird-looking boots covered his feet. He wore some sort of fluffy vest and then what looked like a thick, warm coat. A garment was around his neck, keeping him warm. But what he noticed the most was that his belt with his hunting knife was gone, and his bow and arrow were nowhere in sight.

He called for his wife, but her name just echoed back to him in the darkness. He took a step forward, the green grass crunching under his foot. He called out his son's name, louder, with the same result. He even called out a few of his Merry Men, but no sound came to him but his heartbeat in his ears. Not even the sound of the forest animals. There was nothing.

Now he was breathing heavily. Where was he? How did he get here? Where was his family? He took a deep breath, a million thoughts running through his head. He got down on his hunches, his head in his hands, breathing deeply, trying hard not to panic, to not run around like a mad man yelling their names until he found them. He had to think. Something happened, he hit his head maybe, they were probably safe somewhere looking for him. He had to be rational. If they were in fact in danger, then he had to start looking for tracks or any clue to lead him to them.

He shot up then, and started looking around him, though it was futile, since he'd already gathered he was in the middle of nowhere. But now he had to look harder, for changes in the soil, so he was once more on his hunches, but this time looking intently at the ground.

It took him a moment, but he saw some, hurried yet cautious steps, some steps forward and one or two back, maybe looking over their shoulder, he wasn't sure. They were small and light, they were coming from his left, fresh. They stopped near where he was laying before, and doubled back.

He followed the tracks for a good twenty minutes, ignoring the cold that made his ears red and his breath visible in front of him, walking past fallen logs and looked closely at both sets of tracks, the ones in which the person had come, and the ones he was following back. Looking at the first set backwards as he went, he deducted that when they had come, they had ran, hurriedly, and he had seen the point where the person had slowed down and looked over their shoulder several times and stopped where he had been on the ground. And he was following hurried footsteps back, unsure, straying a few times from the first tracks, lost, looking for the way back no doubt.

He looked up when the trail became a sure and straight line and realized he was at a place where the forest receded and it opened up to a cemetery, a wide open space with different shapes and sizes tombstones, and a large imposing mausoleum not far from where he stood. So this is where they were heading.

He sighed. This was probably the last place he was hopping to end up in. It's not like dead people could give him any answers. Nevertheless, he walked carefully, hoping to find the person the tracks belonged to. Then he might get some answers. So he looked back down at the ground and kept following.

Too distracted in his task, he barely heard a soft step not far behind him, and just as he went on high alert and turned around, his hand instinctually going to his trusty bow, it was too late. No bow slung over his shoulder or any weapon at hand he quickly remembered when he felt the tip of the sword fixed on his throat. However, his mind quickly stopped reeling with defense and escape tactics when he saw the handler of the sword currently digging into just the right spot, making him unable to even swallow.

A girl. A young one at that. Couldn't be more than 13, 14 years of age. It was her tracks he'd been following, he was sure. They were small and light.

Long, tousled light brown hair was her most distinctive feature, somewhat wavy, and not very well brushed. And to his current point of view, looking down at her from the length of the sword, her height barely met his neck. A child.

But her eyes were a harsh glare fixed on him, though they were rimmed with red, and her nose was red also, not just from the cold. She'd been crying. The girl had been running through the forest and crying. He raised his arms, trying to show her he meant her no harm, not wanting to scare the girl but at the same time feeling his own uneasiness, because she might be a child, but she was obviously not playing, not by how he could already feel the tip of the sword chafe his skin.

She did not ease up on her grip on the sword even a little as he raised his arms, nor did she take her glaring eyes off of him for even a second. She still saw him very much as a threat. Her brown eyes were wide and she was scared, thought she tried hard not to show it, and fear could make someone do irrational things.

He had to thread even more carefully then, he had a feeling she was skilled with the sword she held -if the paralyzing hold she had on him wasn't proof already- , it wouldn't be completely easy to get out of the hold and take the sword but he did not want to hurt her in the least and scare her. He opened his mouth to speak, but she beat him to it. "Why are you following me?"

Her voice was firm but not too loud. He would give her the truth. No point in lying. He cleared his throat but regretted it immediately, feeling the sharp tip move up and down with his movement. "I was looking for tracks leading to my family. I came upon yours and followed them in hopes of finding someone who could lead me to them." He said honestly, using a calm and gentle tone, but the girl didn't faze, not even an inch.

"Why were you sleeping in the forest?"

He didn't hesitate answering her questions, hoping she could shine some light on the predicament he found himself in. "I was with my family and my men, we were away from camp washing and fishing in the river. And then, I woke up." He motioned slowly with one finger from his raised hand to the direction he had come from. "I've never been in this part of the land, I'm not sure where I am."

"What land are you referring to?" The girl asked more forcefully, maybe getting impatient, and he frowned. "The Enchanted Forest." He answered quickly though confused at her question. What land? Why would she ask that? Unless... his eyes widened. "Where are we?"

But the girl gave nothing away with her stone hard face. And he couldn't ask any further questions even if he ached to. Soon there were running footstep to his side and another sword was now on him, the sharp side of the blade to the back of his neck. He sighed and closed his eyes, getting frustrated now, wanting answers. Not being able to turn and see anything with two swords framing his neck, he could still sense a bigger presence near him, maybe a man this time.

"Everyone was told to stay inside," the softly scolding voice of a man addressing the girl reached his ears. "You shouldn't be out here."

Robin opened his eyes to look down at the girl and see what she had to say for herself, only to find the same hard eyes staring back, completely unfazed. "He says he was in the Enchanted Forest last, and that he just woke up. He hasn't been here before." Her tone of voice suggested distrust, almost accusing him.

The man besides him sighed, and spoke to her gently again. "Thank you Grace, that's helpful, but your father is worried about you, please go back inside."

Robin watched as the girl - Grace, gave him one last hard look before lowering her sword, but keeping it tight in her grip as she backed away, not turning around giving him a view of the strange clothes she wore. Like him, she wore pants in a dark blue material, but she had weird white and purple shoes with thick white laces, and a coat like thing that reached just above her thighs, made of a shiny grey material. How strange. Where the hell was he?

The man waited for Grace to be out of sight, somewhere behind them now though he didn't know where 'inside' was, the man beside him was obviously satisfied she was going in that direction.

"All right," started the man as he moved to stand in front of him, training the sword where Grace had. He was a younger man, short blonde hair and clear eyes, and he was studying him now with a frown. "What's your name?"

Robin hesitated, what if he was recognizing him? But then again, what could he do? "Robin of Locksley."

The man softened his features a bit, but not letting the sword drop just yet. "Robin Hood?"

"The same." He answered a bit weary, not understanding this man's intentions.

The man chuckled and put his sword down. Robin took in a deep breath, more than happy to have any sharp or pointy objects finally removed from his neck.

"Prince Charming." He introduced himself and presented his hand for him to shake, which Robin slowly accepted, still a bit confused.

"_The_ Prince Charming?" He asked incredulously as they shook hands. Was this real?

"The same." The man answered with a smile befitting to his name. "I thought I recognized you. Your poster was often next to my wife's while she was on the run."

"Snow White would be your wife then?" Robin tried to confirm. If this was the real Prince Charming married to the Princess Snow, then he may be trusted.

"Yes, she is." He said with a friendly smile, though his eyes were darting around, especially to the skies. "Some of your merry men are with us, they said to keep an eye out. And it's not safe here, why don't we talk inside?"

Robin's heart skipped with hope at the mention of his merry men. Maybe he was closer to his family than he thought. He nodded eagerly to the prince. "Then please, lead the way." Prince Charming did and they turned to the way Grace had left. "I'm looking for my wife and son."

Just as he started inquiring about his family, they stopped in front of the crypt, and Robin looked at Charming confused, a question on his tongue when the prince looked over his shoulder and up above him again before pushing the heavy doors open, and hurried him inside. With the light that filtered in through the door he saw a stone casket that had been obviously pushed aside, giving way to a steep, dark staircase. In his many years of thieving, Robin had never seen a hidden passageway quite like this. "We'll see if they're with us, if not, we still have to go outside and look for survivors." The prince said as he shut the doors.

"Survivors?" Robin asked, startled. "Why? What happened? Where are we?" The questions he had wanted to quell until they were in the safe place the prince was leading them to all started rushing out, and his heart picked up speed again.

"Watch your step." The prince said in a low voice, and Robin breathed in slowly, uneasy, knowing he would go under the ground where dead bodies lay, but the prince climbed down first, leaving him no choice but to follow. "We'll explain everything, it's a long story. Fist we'll look for them among the people we have here." As he finished his sentence they came to the foot of the staircase and Robin stopped, not following the prince any further.

There was a small bed right by the staircase, pushed up against the wall of a short yet wide hall. But his eyes were on the sleeping figure in it. He couldn't breathe.

She was stunning, too stunning for words. There was dim lighting, but his thief eyes adjusted to it quickly, and he couldn't look away. He felt as if in a trance, drowning out the world around him, no sound but her soft breathing, no sight but her. She was on her back, her face turned a bit towards the wall, her lips parted slightly. Her shoulder-length black hair was strewn over the white pillow, her arms by her side and she was just, gorgeous. He felt a burning inside, as if his whole being was coming alive anew, like never before, he felt his heart swell and his brain didn't respond. He didn't realize she wasn't sleeping, but was unconscious, too engrossed in the way she breathed in and out slowly, her chest rising and falling, the button of her chemise straining as two top ones were undone and he had to look up, back to her face, feeling his cheeks hot, and now he started at her pink lips that looked so, so soft.

_He was taken aback by her beauty when she looked up, dark chocolate eyes, dark hair, creamy skin, her nose, her flushed cheeks from the cold, her pink lips, and he would not ponder on the fact that she seemed to be stunned by him as well, if just for the split second their eyes met, the slip on her facade before she schooled her features and was hard and proper again, looking back down at her injured arm. "And I'm fine."_

_Your arm is bleeding, you were just dropped by a flying beast, you're still catching your breath, but sure, you're fine. He thought, a bit irritated by her attitude, the beauty that had distracted him already in the back of his mind. "A simple thank you would suffice." _

"_We didn't ask for your help." She said all prim and regal, not looking up at him, and he wanted to see her eyes again, see if her expression was the one of the petulant child she sounded like, he found himself searching for her face even as she looked away. But then he was helping Princess Snow to her feet and introducing himself, laughing inwardly when the Queen fought with her attire to be able to stand. This was the Evil Queen? Evil was not a word he would use to describe her. _

He knew who she was almost as soon as he had laid eyes on her, but he still couldn't look away. The fairest of them all. The most beautiful woman in all the lands. Heartless but oh, what a man wouldn't give to be at her bosom. Lips that ordered the death of many, but irresistible. A figure to kill for. Her evil only rivaled by her striking beauty. And so on the villagers' words describing her ran through his mind. She looked stunning, and he felt his mind wonder and he wanted to look away but he must have been entranced. Yes, he remembered the village men saying something about her maybe only bewitching men, because how could such magnificence be real?

But looking upon her now, he couldn't find a single lie. She just looked so, so…human. Especially when he squinted in the dim lightning, seeing the dark circles under her eyes. He was even tempted to touch her, run his fingers through her skin to make sure she was real. He gulped, again telling his eyes to look elsewhere and his feet to move but there seemed to be a difference of opinion between his brain and the rest of his body. She did not look evil, or deadly, or full of hatred. She looked pale, deathly pale. He frowned, she was very very still, and her breathing was way too slow he realized, now that he was trying to find her imperfections, trying to get his mind out of a dark abyss he suddenly found himself pleasantly falling into and had to remind himself where he was and why. And she just looked so human, even a little fragile, just lying there.

"Robin!" The insistent call of his name made him snap back to reality, suddenly able to hear the background noises, the soft chatter of people, everything outside of the sound of her breathing back into focus. And he looked away, finally, and saw the prince standing under an archway leading to a room, shoulders hunched, his hands on his hips, as if expecting him for a while now, and he once again felt his cheeks burn, but for different reasons, like shame and embarrassment. How long had he been standing there ogling at the Queen? He was here looking for his family and he sidetracks to gawk at a woman. But that was just it. He saw a woman, not an evil monarch or a vindictive witch. No, he saw a woman. A human.

He cleared his throat, feeling how dry it was, and walked over to the prince, trying to find an excuse, for the other man and for himself for his behavior. "Is she all right?"

The prince sighed, his face scrunching up in a pained grimace and looked down, at his wife that Robin now noticed was sitting next to him with a babe in her arms. She looked away from him, the worry also clear on her face.

"We're not sure."

He wanted to ask more, but he was now looking over the royal couple and could see many people scattered about the small space of the vault, some sitting on the floor, some on trunks, some laying on the floor, sleeping. "Are my wife and son here?"

"What are their names?" He hadn't been properly introduced to the princess, but skipped pleasantries for now and answered her.

"Roland, he's four, and Marian."

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><p><strong>I'm sorry it took me so long, but I was very busy with work. The next chapter will be along this week. I won't take so long again. Please Review, let me know what you think. <strong>


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